The Cranston East volleyball team had just faced its toughest test of the season, and the grades weren’t good. The ’Bolts suffered their first loss of the season last Monday, a sweep at the hands of unbeaten Pilgrim.

But in the wake of that loss, coach Tom Ferri was eager to see how the ’Bolts would respond. That, he said, would be the real test.

The ’Bolts passed it.

After regrouping quickly for a sweep of Cranston West on Wednesday, the ’Bolts headed to Pilgrim for a rematch and rolled to an emphatic sweep. They continued their surge on Monday with a 3-0 victory over Exeter/West Greenwich, who came in with an 11-3 record.

All in all, it was quite a week.

“We learned something from that Pilgrim loss,” Ferri said. “I said I wasn’t shocked, but I was disappointed. I knew what kind of team Pilgrim was, but I knew we could have played a lot better.”

In the first Pilgrim match, the ’Bolts seemed out of rhythm from the start. With an inconsistent offense, they had to wait for Pilgrim to make mistakes, and the Pats didn’t make many. Though each game was close, the Pats were in control.

But the ’Bolts knew what had to change, and they didn’t have to wait long to change it. Four days after the loss, they were on the court at Pilgrim, turning everything upside down.

“We kept the intensity for the whole match,” Ferri said. “We had a plan and we executed the plan effectively. That’s basically what it came down to.”

Though the victory over Pilgrim was a big one, the ’Bolts didn’t have much time to bask in the glow. Exeter/West Greenwich came to town Monday night as the league’s third-best team.

“When we played them the first time, they were missing a couple of their starters, and we beat them 3-1,” Ferri said. “I figured they would be tough tonight. Their history is that they progress as the season goes on. I knew it would be a tough match. I told my guys that.”

They must have listened. The ’Bolts hit a few rough patches along the way, but managed to hold on for 26-24, 25-16 and 25-17 victories.

Game one featured some anxious moments, as EWG rallied to take a 23-22 lead. But Billy Chen put down a kill to tie the game and Jeff Kong made a diving dig that ended up scoring a point. After EWG tied the game, East took a lead on a service error and won the game on a kill by John Antoine.

“There were some points where we had lulls, and I did not want this team to hang around,” Ferri said. “I could see that if they hung around, they could easily grab a game from us.”

Luckily, the Scarlet Knights never got closer than they did in game one. The ’Bolts rode three kills by Chen, two by John Antoine and one by Mike Antoine to an early lead in game two. Later in the game, they won 10 of 11 points, with three kills by Erik Bou sparking the surge.

In game three, the ’Bolts won eight of the first 10 points and led by at least four the rest of the way. EWG made a charge late, but Mike Antoine and Jeff Silva sparked a run of four straight that opened up a cushion.

“We hit effectively on the outside,” Ferri said. “They got their hands on a lot of balls, but they didn’t block the ball down very much.”

It helped that the ’Bolts were coming at them from all sides. Chen led a balanced attack with nine kills, and Mike Antoine had eight.

“Everybody’s been contributing,” Ferri said. “Billy Chen had a very good game tonight, and John Antoine played great against Pilgrim. Jeff Silva played a really smart game against Pilgrim and Erik Bou played well. Mike Antoine blocked really well at Pilgrim. It’s just been a real team effort for us.”

And it couldn’t be coming at a better time. With just one regular-season game left, the ’Bolts appear to be hitting stride.

“After that Pilgrim game, I told them, ‘That’s the way you play volleyball,’” Ferri said.